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Darkness descends on Canada

Tues., April 9, 2013

Re: Cuts to leave refugees lawyerless, April 5

Cuts to leave refugees lawyerless, April 5

I remember when Canada was considered a land of hope and for many a safe port in a sea of hostility. I remember when Canada welcomed those whose very lives were challenged as a result of racism and bigotry and opened its heart to immigrants and refugees like my own parents who made Canada their new home.

But darkness seems to have descended on our land. Refugees are not just unwelcomed but new legislation virtually bars even the neediest from our doorstep. Laws have been enacted demanding we refrain from providing medical aid to certain refugees and now even Legal Aid Ontario has put forward a plan that would make it impossible for these desperate refugees to acquire legal representation.

Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel once wrote: “As a former refugee … I feel morally compelled to remain on the side of other uprooted men and women everywhere. As long as they don’t find new homes, living in permanent exile, their human rights are violated. Socrates himself chose death over exile. Today, as yesterday, a nation is judged by its attitude towards refugees.”

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Words to be heeded.

Bernie M. Farber, Thornhill

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